Jewish group changes name

November 14, 2003|By Tribune news services.

MINNEAPOLIS — A convention of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations voted to change the synagogue alliance's name to the Union for Reform Judaism--a move aimed at better reflecting the nature of the group.

The union president, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, favored the change. Reform is the most liberal of U.S. Judaism's major branches and the largest, with more than 900 synagogues.

The organization was founded under the UAHC name in 1873. It hoped to unite all U.S. Jews, but the Orthodox rejected Reform's alterations of religious tradition and never joined.